State v. Deese

TIMMONS-GOODSON, Judge.

Defendant Andy Lamont Deese appeals from his conviction of second degree murder and his sentence to an aggravated term of imprisonment. For the reasons set forth below, we ascertain no error at trial but remand for a new sentencing hearing consistent with this opinion.

At trial, the evidence tended to show the following: On 4 December 1995, defendant shot and killed Owen Leviner, Sr. following a long, tempestuous landlord-tenant dispute. Leviner was the seventy-three-year-old owner of an eight-unit apartment complex in Salisbury, North Carolina, in which defendant…